New OSHA Severe Incident Reporting Regulations

Tips & Advice

Did you know that OSHA changed its severe incidents regulations as of January 1, 2015? The changes may affect your business so it’s important to know what’s new. Here are the highlights of the regulation change:

New OSHA Regulation Highlights

  • All employers covered by OSHA are required to comply
  • Report work-related fatalities within 8 hours
  • Report work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, or losses of an eye within 24 hours
  • OSHA is developing a Web Portal for e-reporting
Ways to Report Severe Incidents
  • Call nearest area office during normal business hours
  • Call OSHA hotline 1-800-321- OSHA
  • COMING SOON: Online Web Portal
Before the New Year, OSHA's regulations required an employer to report work-related fatalities within 8 hours of the fatality. In-patient hospitalizations or illnesses of three or more employees also needed to be reported. Reporting amputations, loss of an eye, or hospitalizations or illnesses of less than three employees were not required.

This video of Dr. David Michaels, OSHA U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor, provides a great, quick-hitting overview of the new regulations.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GoR7nlRNyE&index=21&list=UUAiRVU84Si6YHoe8LCn54WA[/embed]

You can read more about the new OSHA regulation here.

What does this new OSHA regulation mean for you and your business?

Here are a few examples of how this new regulation can come into play with workplace incidents:

Scenario One:

It’s Monday at 10:00am and John is working with a machine that he is extremely familiar with and is following all of the safety guidelines. Unfortunately, the machine malfunctions and before he can step away, it crushes his right hand. He is immediately taken to the Emergency Room. You are alerted to the incident at 10:30am, just after John is picked up by the ambulance. The doctors decide that they can’t save three of John’s fingers. He must undergo surgery that afternoon to amputate them. Since you found out about the incident on Monday at 10:30am, you must report the incident to OSHA no later than Tuesday at 10:30am.

Scenario Two:

At 4:45pm, just before the end of Friday’s shift, Jane is cleaning up her work station after all of her teammates have already left for the weekend. As she stands on a step stool to reach for something high on the shelf, she leans too far and loses her balance. She falls to the ground, landing on her wrist. She thinks she has broken it, but can manage to drive herself to the hospital since everyone else has left. The doctors determine that she did break her wrist, which will require surgery and a brief hospital stay to correct. After she learns the news, Jane calls you Saturday morning at 9:00am to let you know what happened. Since you found out about the incident on Saturday at 9:00am, you must report the incident to OSHA no later than Sunday at 9:00am.

Scenario Three:

You get a call on Wednesday at 1:15pm that the unthinkable has happened. You learn that Jim lost his life during a routine maintenance check on one of his machines that was not properly shut down prior to the check. You must call or fill out the online OSHA form no later than 9:15pm Wednesday night.